Disclaimer: Don't own it, don't really wish to own it- so don't assume I do.

(Quick Note from the Author: This is a sequel to Joy of the Hunt- but it can be read as an individual story, should you happen upon it. But if you care to know what exactly some of the things mean mentioned here, I'd suggest you'd read its leader.)

The Ties That Bind

By: J.L. Dexter

Rating: PG

Summary: Sequel to Joy of the Hunt. Months after their fierce battle, Jack and Anamaria find themselves in the most awkward of discussions dealing with their past, their present and their future.

The Black Pearl greeted the dawn, its flawless black sails whipping in the pleasant breeze. The majestic ship's deck was void of any motion or activity as one figure stood alone at the helm, their body slightly hunched forward in a slouch.

Down below, the early morning quiet was shattered as a voice rang out, "Rise and Shine! All hands on deck!"

---

Anamaria rolled her eyes as she pulled her pillow over her head trying to drown out the noise and light. When the tactic failed, she turned over and kicked the thin, ratty blanket off her body, the tattered cloth falling to the floor.

"Mangy bird," Anamaria grumbled as Cotton's parrot once again shouted its wake up call. Why of all things, did Jack have to keep that bloody parrot around is beyond me. She thought ruefully as she drug herself out of the small bed.

She stretched her stiff muscles, a reminder of the previous nights' workout and why she never slept immediately after doing such said activity. Anamaria winced as a small pain traveled down her neck, the tingle ending at her shoulder. Great, a crick- just what I need.

She massaged the point of pain located at the base of her neck before fully rising and crossing the room to a small chest of drawers. Absently pulling articles from the chest, she quickly dressed, ready for the day's chores.

Anamaria paused to pull her dark hair back in a loose knot on the back of her head, the disarrayed hold being pinned in place by an old clip. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she stepped out into the hall and made her way up to the deck, well aware that she was the last one to rise.

Her other crewmates had already started on their duties as she appeared on the deck shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight. Shaking her head, Anamaria scowled at the looks she got from some of the men as she made her way to the bow of the ship where Gibbs was diligently tying off a rope.

Taking her position beside the old sailor, Anamaria wordlessly reached out and grabbed the rope, her hands pulling it back to give slack for Gibbs to tie it off with. When she felt the rope stretch to attention, she let go, the access slack making a clean snapping sound in the wind.

Turning she saw Gibbs nod his thanks and with a grunt of disapproval he made his way to the rigging. Anamaria watched in silence as the old man slowly scaled the rigging to hook a slipped sail back to its spar.

Anamaria sighed in frustration as she watched the poor man cling to the rigging hopelessly. This will take forever if that's left up to Gibbs, she said mentally as she moved to the rigging and hefted herself up.

---

Gibbs muttered his disgust for having been the one chosen to fix the rigging. Usually Anamaria was the one up here fixing the bloody sails, but not this morning. He had seen the brief passing of pain in her eyes as she had helped tug in the loose rope on the bowsprit.

The old sailor was also very aware of the young woman's still recovering condition and he heeded the words of his captain well; true to every word old Gibbs was.

Not t' let the lass do any heavy work.

As Gibbs leaned forward to grasp the loose sail, he felt himself slip forward, his hand gripping the rigging rope to stop his fall. Grumbling under his breath, he reached out again only to find that he couldn't reach the wayward spar that eluded him.

Gibbs cursed softly to himself and leaned out further when he felt the rope beneath him shudder suddenly causing him to retract his hand and use it to keep himself upright. Looking down he saw a mass of unruly black hair ascending towards him, the figure moving nimbly up the rope.

---

Anamaria came to a stop beside the old quartermaster, a fatigued look on her face. Despite the early morning coolness, Anamaria felt the beads of sweat already forming on her brow. Gibbs raised a brow as he watched the female pirate catch her breath as she finally leaned out and grasped the sail in her thin hand.

Nodding to Gibbs she said huskily, "I believe the boys could use your help with the stern chaser."

He cast one more glance at her, the concern in his eyes fading as quick as it had come as he nodded and descended to the deck below. As he climbed down he called back up, "Don't push yourself, lass. Ye know 'ow Jack tends t' get."

Anamaria rolled her eyes as she latched the sail back to its spar, a growl rising from her throat at the old man's words. "Eh, well Jack will just have to get over it, now won't he."

Once Gibbs was planted firmly back on the deck, he worked his way to the helm where the captain stood motionless.

---

Captain Jack Sparrow stared out at the horizon, a steely gaze in his eyes. He watched his crew rush around preparing for sail and smiled, his gold capped teeth glinting in the light. Soon we'll be in Tortuga- I think we deserve a bit o' a break.

"Cap'n?"

Jack swiveled his head to see Gibbs standing there, a rum flask in his hands. "Mite early to be drinkin' mate, wouldn't ye say?"

Gibbs grinned. "Nay cap'n. Ne'er t' early t' start drinkin'."

"Wonderful!" Jack crowed as he gestured wildly with his hands at the answer. He took the flask from Gibbs and took a swig before passing it back. "Now, Gibbs, what be the news?"

The drunken old sailor jerked his head back to the lower deck's foremast. "Aye, cap'n, just wantin' t' let ye know what crawled up t' riggin' this morn'n."

Jack followed his nod, his eyes landing on a figure hanging idly in the air on the rigging. His jaw dropped as he scowled at Gibbs. "I thought ye had orders to stop her, Gibbs."

"Aye," Gibbs said with drunken mirth. "But ye know 'ow Ana gets, Jack. Ne'er one t' stay down th't lass."

Jack snatched Gibbs rum flask as he pushed past the older sailor. "Way too early for ye to be drinkin', Gibbs!"

Gibbs frowned at his empty hand as he followed his captain to the main deck.

---

"ANA!" Jack shouted up to the woman, his voice being carried off by the wind. He saw her glance down at him but she quickly turned her gaze away. "Come down from there, right now."

Anamaria blew her hair out of her face as she looked down once more. "Jack, stop orderin' me 'round!"

Jack raised a brow. "Well love, as your captain, I 'ave permission to order you 'round as much as I like!"

The female pirate ignored him as she continued to scale the rigging checking the other spars. She had shirked her duties long enough and she was tired of sitting around in her cabin all day long. She slowly began to rebel against Jack's wishes that she not pull any weight until she was completely recovered; Anamaria felt like she was going insane by not doing anything.

Not to mention the looks and comments she often got from some of her crewmates when they had to do her share of the work. Anamaria felt so low when their eyes were upon her and she often retreated to her cabin despite how much she hated being caged up in there.

She wasn't sure if the looks and comments had gone unnoticed in Jack's presence, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to stick around long enough to find out. Several times the thought of leaving the crew and returning to Tortuga entered her mind, but each time she ignored the urge to listen to reason and remained where she was.

Anamaria sighed. Jack had changed so much since- she squeezed her eyes shut trying to block out that time. Shaking her head, she continued her job, the one job that she was good for. For as long as she could remember, Anamaria had always been the one to make the trip up the rigging and check the sails. She was the best person for the job given her abilities, and she often found it frustrating with others doing her job.

And a far from commendable job at that! Anamaria told herself with a frown. Numerous times she had had to go back and fix the problems that the others had caused trying to fix the problem that was troublesome to begin with.

Anamaria was so lost in thought that she never noticed the figure climbing the rigging to her, nor did she sense the attack coming on until it was too late.

---

Jack was cursing all but silently to himself as he ascended the rigging towards the rebellious Anamaria, his muttering loud enough to be heard down below. Crazy, daft, irresponsible, of all the stubborn things she- ohh, I swear that woman will be the death of me! Jack was thinking as he made his way to Anamaria.

Sure, Jack thought with reason. She does the best job securing the rigging but she also knows not to bloody come up here in her condition! That lass is in 'big' trouble!

Jack continued to gripe as his mind wandered. He knew Anamaria claimed that she was better, but he could see it in her eyes and he could feel it in her presence. She was still having trouble. Even the simplest of things put strain on her and more than once that he knew of she had to take a time out and catch her breath and on some occasions, she pushed herself so much, she either passed out or made herself sick.

Jack knew one thing and that was- he was bloody tired of cleaning up after her when she did get sick! He was bloody tired of cleaning his ship up from the things Anamaria threw back up, regardless of the fact that half the time she never had anything to eat.

That was another concern Jack had. Ever since their reunion, Jack had watched Anamaria practically waste away. She refused to eat and barely had anything to drink, albeit unless Jack forced her.

She never did sit well with that, Jack thought with a small smile. While Anamaria's recovery had been coming along nicely, Jack was afraid she was harming herself more now than what she had been before.

For the longest time he didn't think she was going to pull through- those nights still hung heavily in his mind. Nights that he spent sitting by her bedside soothing her fears or just encouraging her to continue fighting. Nights that he found he was loosing more and more of himself to her.

He had kept his promise. He had stayed right beside her through it all. Through the sickness, the fevers, the spells and the grim hours that they had both pretty much given up all hope; but Jack held on. And surprisingly, Anamaria had too.

Now here Jack was constantly after her for overexerting herself or doing something she shouldn't be, something that truly annoyed the woman. Jack rolled his eyes as he moved closer to her, his cursing gradually becoming silent thoughts.

He could see her checking each individual spar and smiled. Even in her sick state, she still managed to do a thorough job. As Jack quickly approached the woman, he suddenly felt something change under his feet, the rigging beginning to sway in an unusual way. Puckering his brow, he looked up to see Anamaria standing awkwardly, her body leaning haphazardly against the web of ropes.

"Ana?"

There was no answer and she never acknowledged him, something that Jack thought to be peculiar indeed. He saw a slight movement as once again he felt the rope holding him up begin to quiver, his eyes quickly casting over in darkness.

Not now, he told himself as he scurried up the rope faster.

He saw Anamaria's hands let go of the rigging and he grabbed her just as she began to teeter backwards. He wrapped an arm around her as he laced his other through the rigging to keep them from both falling.

"Ana?"

The woman did her best to crane her neck back to look at the man, her eyes wide with fear. "J-Jack- I can't breathe."

Jack frowned and answered, "It's all right, I got ye." Why now? After so long, why now?

In his arms he felt Anamaria shiver violently. With a tight grip on her he said, "Ana, don't ye quit on me now! We've come this far- don't ye dare give up!"

Anamaria gasped as she inhaled deeply, the convulsing coming to a stop. She fell limp into her captain's arms as he adjusted her so he could look at her. Unable to completely reposition her, he gave in and called her name. "Ana?"

The female pirate stirred in his grip. "Jack," she whispered, her voice fearfully low. "Why? Why do ye think its happenin' all over again? Its been months- why?"

"I don't know, Ana. But let's get ye down from here, savvy?"

She just nodded as she allowed Jack to guide her down; one of his arms still firmly grasped about her waist. When her feet reached the deck she felt her legs give out as everything went black.

---

A/N: Ok, so here is the first part of the sequel to Joy of the Hunt- but there's been a slight change in plans. The sequel was going to be a one-shot, but I figured it best to give a gap-filler of Anamaria's recovery. This does take place- 2 months- after JotH, so in flashbacks in this little story, I'll have various scenes of the past couple months in her recovery. This is only going to be about 3 chapters long- and from there, I'll continue the sequel with another- the original one-shot that was suppose to follow my first story. Other than that- I can't really make any guarantees cause they could change so easily! Hope you enjoyed!

-J